I bought a motorless, curved treadmill(SPRINTBOK) and put it in my living room so I could run every day.
Here’s my review of the SPRINTBOK, 6 months later.
I’m not a fan of running, I don’t run, it’s too hard physically.
I used to do a lot of sport but now, with a broken back and disc disease, running is complicated.
Walking, on the other hand, I love!
What’s more, over the years I’ve become convinced that walking is the best and easiest way to stay healthy.
I’ve tried several things, and as part of the challenge I took on a while back(walking 10,000 steps a day for a month to lose weight), the treadmill in the gym, walking outdoors…
Walking every day: it’s hard to stay motivated
Walking on a mat indoors
Walking on an indoor treadmill is fine for the first month, but it soon becomes a question of motivation. There are a lot of things you have to do just to walk for an hour: you have to get there, you have to get changed… Once it’s over, you have to come back to take a shower, get changed again, you have to deal with traffic jams, probably in the cold, and the rain, and the dark…
Outdoor walking
For outdoor walking, it works when the weather’s fine, but in autumn or winter it’s harder to stay motivated to walk for an hour a day. Not to mention the fact that, even though I live in an airy place (I live in the country), by dint of walking all over my region it ends up getting a bit boring.
The thing I love is walking in a place I don’t know: I can walk for hours… It’s always a discovery: you never know what’s a few meters away, it changes everything.
Buying a treadmill for your home
The idea began to germinate in my mind that perhaps the solution was to buy a treadmill for the house.
But it’s a famous piece of equipment and when I look at the treadmills on the market it requires a certain investment for a quality piece of equipment. Until I saw this curved, non-motorized treadmill for the first time:
The SPRINTBOK (from NOHRD).
So, it’s an investment, it’s expensive, but it’s a premium piece of equipment. In a living room, it looks a lot different from a conventional treadmill…
Because a treadmill at home needs space and I don’t have a dedicated room. I want to be able to walk on my treadmill when I feel like it and watch TV or look out the window, and the living room is the only place where I can walk or jog to my heart’s content.
Side view of my SPRINTBOK non-motorized curved treadmill
A relatively quiet treadmill
When you walk, of course you hear it, but it’s nothing like a traditional treadmill: the motor makes noise, and on a non-motorized treadmill there’s no motor: there’s just the noise of the belt and the bearings, which is perfectly acceptable.
An eco-friendly treadmill
The SPRINTBOK is a solid wood unit, made from high-quality, durable materials.
62 noise- and shock-absorbing plywood slats ensure relatively quiet running. The shock-absorbing rubber between the slats and the belt ensures a pleasant, trail-like running sensation. The natural slats are covered with linoleum, selected for its natural, long-lasting properties, which perfectly absorb shocks and provide the user with ideal cushioning during training.
A treadmill with no motor & virtually no maintenance
Thanks to the use of top-quality materials and the absence of a motor, the SPRINTBOK is a maintenance-free machine. Apart from regular dusting of all surfaces, there’s no need to tighten belts or oil or grease parts.
Some people will think it’s stupid to spend so much money on a treadmill. You can find treadmills much cheaper, but it’s never worth the price…it’s just a choice I made.
A motorless, curved treadmill
The difference between a traditional treadmill and a motorless, curved treadmill isn’t just a question of materials, aesthetics, decibel level or power consumption.
On a non-motorized treadmill, it’ s the walker/runner who dictates the pace, not the treadmill.
And that changes everything…
30% extra weight loss for the same training time
Whether you’re walking or running, the curved surface requires more energy expenditure than a conventional treadmill, which means a more intense physical workout and more calories burned.
One study showed that oxygen consumption and heart rate increased linearly with running speed in all clinical trials and were significantly higher on the non-motorized curved treadmill.
According to this study, oxygen consumption and heart rate increased linearly with running speed in all clinical trials and were significantly higher on the non-motorized curved treadmill than on the traditional treadmill.
According to this other study,
Oxygen consumption and heart rate are closely linked to caloric expenditure:
Training on a treadmill without a curved motor increases oxygen consumption by 32% and heart rate by 16%.
This means that training on a non-motorized curved treadmill burns 30% more calories, while progressing at the same speed as on a traditional motorized treadmill.
Cellular respiration
Oxygen plays an essential role in the body’s energy production through a process known as cellular respiration. This term refers to the process by which cells use oxygen to break down nutrients, such as carbohydrates and fats, to produce energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
This energy is vital for the proper functioning of our cells, tissues and organs, and enables us to maintain our physical and mental activities.
Source: Wikipedia https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respiration_cellulaire
If training is more intense, the body needs more oxygen to supply the extra energy needed by the cells.
This increased oxygen demand means our metabolism is more active, and we burn more calories during training.
And so the body burns more calories to produce the extra ATP required by the increased intensity of training
Heart rate
The heart supplies oxygen-charged blood to the muscles involved in training.
As physical activity intensifies, the heart has to pump more blood to supply oxygen and nutrients to the muscles and efficiently eliminate waste products.
This intensification of physical activity leads to an increase in heart rate.
A higher heart rate is synonymous with more intense physical effort and a greater need for energy to maintain the effort required for training.
This need for extra energy translates into extra calorie expenditure.
Faster fitness & weight loss with less effort.
Walking or running on a non-motorized curved treadmill has been shown to increase physiological intensity compared to a standard motorized treadmill.
The crossover clinical study in question explored the differences in physiological stimulus between walking and running on non-motorized curved treadmills versus conventional motorized treadmills. The results indicate that, at equivalent speeds, non-motorized curved treadmills offer a greater stimulus. For example, walking at a speed of 1.34 meters per second (around 3 miles per hour) on a standard motorized treadmill is generally classified as a moderate-intensity activity.
In contrast, the study found that walking at the same speed on a curved treadmill can produce more than six times the energy expenditure, elevating this activity to the rank of vigorous-intensity exercise.
3/4 rear view of my SPRINTBOK non-motorized curved treadmill
This suggests that the use of curved treadmills may be particularly beneficial for those looking to improve their fitness by increasing the intensity of their workouts without necessarily increasing walking or running speed.
This discovery may influence cardiovascular exercise recommendations and the design of fitness programs.
Greater physiological stimulus
A greater physiological stimulus generally means that the activity in question places greater demands on the body, resulting in increased physiological responses such as increased heart rate, respiration, oxygen consumption, sweat production and energy expenditure.
These reactions are indicators of exercise intensity and the physical effort required to perform a given physical activity.
More & better use of muscles
Unlike a standard treadmill, which needs a motor to move the belt forward, training on a curved treadmill has no motor and relies exclusively on the physical effort you produce.
This means greater effort is required to “move forward”, leading to greater muscular stimulation, and greater muscular stimulation leads to greater development of strength, stamina and flexibility over time.
A more natural stride
Curved treadmills are designed to simulate as closely as possible the natural movement and mechanics of walking or running outdoors. (And not simply to reproduce the sensations of a traditional treadmill).
When running or walking on a curved treadmill, we tend to adopt a forefoot stride instead of the heel strike commonly seen on standard treadmills.
This change in stride dynamics places greater demands on the calf muscles and helps strengthen the muscles of the lower leg.
Better protected joints
As I explained in the previous section, curved treadmills are designed to simulate the natural movement of walking or running outdoors.
The curved surface makes for a more natural stride, and the soft cushioning provided by the slats that make up the band helps reduce shock to the joints, reducing the risk of injury.
This study points out that most running-related injuries are due to shock acceleration and excessive stress. The study I’m referring to compared curved and non-curved treadmills in a series of tests looking at shock accelerations and stress on participants’ shin bones.
Because of their concave shape, curved treadmills favor the forefoot stride over the midfoot or heel stride, which is why people running or walking on curved treadmills experience much less stress on the tibia.
This study also mentions that people using curved treadmills had higher heart rates and perceived exertion rates at the same speeds.
The authors therefore emphasize that curved treadmills can be excellent tools for people wishing to practice higher-intensity workouts with minimal impact on the joints.
Improving balance at home
When moving at normal walking speed, most people have an asymmetrical door. The study authors also point out that walking at higher speeds can help correct this asymmetry.
Their findings suggest that even four-minute intervals on curved treadmills can significantly improve fitness, and that this improved fitness facilitates daily activities in general, not just running workouts.
The Sprintbok: my opinion 6 months later
6 months after buying my SPRINTBOK I realize that I use it quite often.
Especially since my challenge to burn 1000 calories a day for 30 days!
Price and size are the only things I can say about this device that are “negative”.
More than a device, my SPRINTBOK has become a benevolent object, almost a friend, part of my daily life, my home, my well-being, both physical and mental.
Conclusion
My sixties are fast approaching and buying this non-motorized curved treadmill is probably one of the best things I could have done to approach this milestone in my life in a positive way.
